Between 1982-1992, during Lebanon’s civil war, 96 foreign hostages of 21 national origins—mostly American and western European—were kidnapped in Lebanon. While most were released, at least 9 were murdered or died in captivity. After many failed attempts by various groups or governments to free the hostages, the U.N., Iran and Israel finally came to the negotiating table to free the remaining hostages.

Dawn at Midnight recounts the story of the Lebanese Hostage Crisis and looks at the bigger context: the civil war leading up to the kidnappings, the reason for the kidnappings (the rise of the Hezbollah), the negotiations by the U.N to free the last of the hostages, and finally Hezbollah’s entry into Syria in 2013.

The film was inspired by Robert Fisk's book Pity The Nation, Hostage by Con Coughlin, and Man without a gun by Giandomenico Picco.